Not athletic enough to contend with Phoenix’s second unit, not engaged enough on defence and not nearly good enough on this afternoon.

For the Raptors, it was one game to forget, a regrettable showing against the Suns when frustrations mounted every time Toronto could not sustain a run.

Despite their woeful play on the defensive end, the Raptors were trailing by only seven with 4:08 left, but they couldn’t make enough stops or shots en route to a 121-113 loss.

“I think they (Suns) are one of the fastest teams in the league, especially when you have (Goran) Dragic and (Eric) Bledsoe coming at you,’’ began Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “Even though Bledsoe only had 14 points, he kept pressure on our defence when we collapsed. It loosened us up in rotation and they knocked down shots.

A two-game road trip — back-to-back no less with stops Tuesday in Atlanta and then New Orleans awaits — a time when Toronto’s defence must step up.

Against the Suns, it was non-existent as was the Raptors bench, outscored 59-11.

The way the visitors played, able to get up and down the floor and take their man off the dribble, it reminded many of the Steve Nash Suns when shots would get heaved in seven seconds or less.

This edition isn’t as good as the Nash era, but against Toronto, it was simply a matter of matchups, often the deciding factor at the NBA level.

When a team such as Toronto can’t match up athletically, you get games such as Sunday, in many ways an anomaly given how fast the Suns can play and how effective they were in breaking down the Raptors off the dribble.

And to their credit, the Suns were making plenty of shots from all areas on the floor.

In the paint and on the perimeter, there were plenty of slippages on defence.

“Speed does that,’’ summed up Casey. “Speed kills. That is the bottom line. We will not see a faster team than that the rest of the year.

“They cause a lot of breakdowns, whether it’s pick-and-rolls or penetration and pitching, offensive boards when the shot goes up, because guys are out of position to help and we just didn’t do a good job. My hat is off to them. They shot the lights out (50.7%) and they made the shots they had to make. We cut it down and they continued to execute.”

Nerves began to fray when shots weren’t dropping and calls weren’t going their way, culminating with back-to-back technical fouls for Toronto.

The first to get teed up was Casey, who was enraged at a non-call involving DeMar DeRozan in the third quarter.

Seconds later, it was DeRozan’s turn to earn the wrath of the officials, who did not endear themselves further when a charge/block call went against Terrence Ross, who appeared to have set his feet and beat his man to the spot on defence.

What finally went right for the Raptors was Kyle Lowry and his offence.

Spin moves in the lane, coming off screens, pulling up in transition, Lowry scored in a variety of ways, almost single-handedly keeping the Raptors within distance of the Suns.

After scoring two points in the opening half, Lowry exploded for 19 in the third quarter alone, going 6-for-8 from the field.

Phoenix led 96-90 heading into the fourth quarter.

To say neither team played any offence in the opening quarter would be to state the obvious, 12 minutes of poor close-outs, putrid box- outs and, at times, out of control ball handling.

In terms of fundamental basketball, it was ugly, but it was somewhat watchable given how many points were scored, the teams combining to produce 72.

Whether it was draw-and-kick action, not being able to run shooters off the three-point line, the Raptors made life too easy for the Suns, who would be paced by Gerald Green’s 13 first-quarter points.

Toronto was basically able to get off whatever shot it wanted, perimeter or in the paint, but its inability to defend the three-point line proved problematic.

Overall, too much speed by the Suns and too little from Toronto’s second unit were the primary themes.

“It’s not a systemic problem. It’s not a situation where you panic. It’s one game,’’ cautioned Casey. “We knew we weren’t going to go undefeated the rest of the season. It’s not like it’s the end of the world.’’

FOR LOWRY, LOSS JUST A HEADACHE

A blow to the head was the thing the Raptors needed in what was essentially a blowout loss to the visiting Suns.

The final score would read 121-113 in favour of Phoenix, but at no point during the fourth quarter did the Raptors have the look of a team capable of making stops and going on an extended run.

With 90 seconds remaining in a nine-point game, Kyle Lowry was kept in the game, the same Lowry who earlier was given a blow to the head.

“It was concerning,’’ said head coach Dwane Casey. “It was a loose ball and he (Lowry) got dove on in the loose-ball situation. It knocked the wind out of him, but he’s okay.”

Because Lowry was okay, Casey kept him in the game.

“He got his wind back,’’ added Casey. “He bounced back and he was fine. It was a nine-point game, a three-possession game. Nobody was waving the white flag, at least I wasn’t.”

Lowry said he was hit in the head by P.J. Tucker, later telling the assembled media that he was suffering from a headache.

“These lights are killing me, but I’m all right,’’ he said. “It was an aggressive play. P.J. is not a dirty guy, at all. I’ve known him for a while. He even apologized after he did it. But you know I would try to get the ball no matter what. I would do the same thing.”

Raptors fall to Suns in NBA action at Air Canada Centre

Not athletic enough to contend with Phoenix’s second unit, not engaged enough on defence and not nearly good enough on this afternoon.

For the Raptors, it was one game to forget, a regrettable showing against the Suns when frustrations mounted every time Toronto could not sustain a run.

Despite their woeful play on the defensive end, the Raptors were trailing by seven with 4:08 left, but they couldn’t make enough stops and shots en route to a 121-113 loss on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre.